Military ROTC Records

Military and ROTC Files, 1860-2007
RG 905
3 cubic feet, in 2 boxes

History note: Military activities at Wofford College date to the organization by students of a “southern guards” unit on campus at the outbreak of the American Civil War. Many students and young alumni served during the Civil War, and at least 36 lost their lives. Following the outbreak of World War I in Europe, students organized into a Student Army Training Corps, and much of student life for the duration of World War I was militarized. The SATC evolved quickly into the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and Wofford has sheltered an ROTC unit ever since. Many Wofford students and alumni served in World War I, and about seventeen lost their lives. For a time during the Great Depression, many students joined ROTC as a way of covering their living expenses. Many of these alumni later served in World War II. The Army Air Corps took over the Wofford campus for over a year in 1943 and 1944, using the campus as a college training detachment before aviation students went on to pre-flight training and flight school. With most students in the military, the remaining undergraduates studied at Spartanburg Methodist or Converse College. ROTC participation remained high through the eras of the Korean War, the Cold War, and Vietnam.

Organization note: The materials are generally arranged in chronological order. Within this arrangement, one group of World War II alumni letters are grouped alphabetically, and at the end of the collection, correspondence relating to World War II casualties is grouped together.

Access note: unrestricted

Summary note: The collection consists of articles, photographs, and historical information regarding Wofford’s involvement with military service. Materials document wartime service and casualties, the growth and development of the Reserve Officer Training Corps unit on campus, and the use of the campus during World War II by the Army Air Corps. One group of letters documents the experience of Wofford alumni during World War II.

Citation: Cite as: Wofford College Military Files, Sandor Teszler Library, Wofford College

Location: Archives, Sandor Teszler Library, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC 29303

Related material: Flight Record, pub. 1943-44. See archivist for information.

Administrative notes: Artificial collection, assembled from vertical files maintained in the archives, from alumni World War II files, and from ROTC programs. Processed summer 2007 by Phillip Stone and Phillip Mullinnix.

Finding Aid: Folder listing

Box 1
Civil War (1861-1865)
Civil War Casualties (1861-1865)
World War I (1914-1918)
World War I Casualties and Memorials
World War II (1941-1945)
Wofford Alumni in World War II---Miscellaneous
World War II Alumni Info and Interviews
World War II Casualties
World War II Air Crew Training
World War II V-E, V-J and D-Day (newspaper articles)
World War II Memorial Service, February 17, 1946
World War II---D.C. National Memorial

World War II Alumni Letters—A
World War II Alumni Letters—B
World War II Alumni Letters—C
World War II Alumni Letters—D
World War II Alumni Letters—E
World War II Alumni Letters—F
World War II Alumni Letters—G
World War II Alumni Letters—H
World War II Alumni Letters—I
World War II Alumni Letters—J
World War II Alumni Letters—K
World War II Alumni Letters—L
World War II Alumni Letters—M
World War II Alumni Letters---N
World War II Alumni Letters—O
World War II Alumni Letters—P
World War II Alumni Letters—Q-R
World War II Alumni Letters—S
World War II Alumni Letters—T
World War II Alumni Letters—U
World War II Alumni Letters—V-W
World War II—Newsletters
Korean War (1950-1953)
Vietnam War
“Wofford During Four Wars”

Persian Gulf War (Gulf War I)—1991
Shields, Lt. Andrew---Operation Iraqi Freedom (Gulf War II)
ROTC 1920-1990s
ROTC Living and Deceased Alumni (2001)
ROTC Photos
War Dead Interim Project ---1989
World War II---Letters and Information on Alumni Casualties (Richelle Interim Project 1989) [see box 2 for notes]


Box 2 (Richelle Allen Interim Project Correspondences and Notes)
Lafayette B. Adams
William H. Alexander
David B. Anderson, Jr.
Joe J. Amos, Jr.
Joel E. Bacon
Everett L. Bass
Roy V. Bishop
Evander C. Bryant
Wm. P. Buhrman, Jr.
Volney L. Byars
Charles B. Church
Wendell E. Cole
Joe F. Compton
Sheldon M. Dannelly
Wm. T. Dixon
Ben R. Easterling
Lt. Henry P. Elias
James “Aubrey” Faust
John D. Ferguson
Thomas D. Fowler
John H. Franks
Earl P. Furman, Jr.
Claude Gatlin
Fred E. Gillespie
Wm. H. Gladden, Jr.
Horace E. Gravely
“Walter” Keith Hale, Jr.
Wm. F. Ham
James B. Heins, Jr.
Carley M. Hinson
Brian F. Hodges
Wm. E. Johnson, Jr.
Julian K. Joliff
Lt. Drew LaGrone King
Warden Henry King, Jr.
John J. Little
Joe H. Marlowe
Theodore P. Mason
Jim Mosely
Francis D. Newman
Ed Owens
Maxwell F. Parrott
Roy Robertson
Eddie Robinson
James Shands
Wm. F. Thompson
Roger Watts
Gary Wilson
Allen O. Wood